Brian Gutekunst has seen a lot. Initially hired by the Green Bay Packers in 1999 as a scout, he was with the team during the Ron Wolf era, then saw the transition to head coach Mike Sherman calling the shot, a move back to the old structure with a powerful general manager in Ted Thompson, and a diluted power structure since he became the GM in 2018.
Right now, Gutekunst, executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball, and head coach Matt LaFleur form a three-person group responding directly to the CEO/president.
With the transition from Mark Murphy to Ed Policy next month, the model will stay the same. However, the new boss indicated the leadership group will have more frequent meetings to make the communication better. Gutekunst is not worried about the changes, though, and he understands where it comes from.
"It really comes down to the people and their ability to work together. I think we got a really good group right now that communicates very, very well," Gutekunst told Cheesehead TV. "With Ed (Policy) coming in, there's going to be a lot that he's going to want to be a part of that he hasn't been part of prior, to just gain the knowledge of how everything works together. So I think it's a really good thing. Certainly, I'm going to say that he's my new boss, right, so we got to say that, but at the same time I'm excited for Ed and some of the things that he wants to do with the organization moving forward."
It's not necessarily a problem whatsoever, but in particular in the relationship of Gutekunst, LaFleur, and Ball. The three top heads of the football structure seem aligned to build the roster.
"For Matt, myself, and Russ, our goal doesn't change. We're trying to win a championship. We're all trying to do our job in the best way we can. We've been together a long time now, we've really found a way to communicate on all the issues and the things that we need to moving forward in a really good way," Gutekunst added. "There's a really good cadence. With Mark, we met every couple weeks, and so this is just going to be a little bit more, but I don't think it's going to really change a ton of how Russ, Matt, and I communicate on a daily basis, because we're talking every single day."
Hired as a scout in 1999, Brian Gutekunst eventually climbed the front office ladder. He was promoted to director of college scouting in 2012, director of player personnel in 2016, and general manager in 2018. Gutekunst was a part of the front office that built the Super Bowl-winning roster in 2010.
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